Police: Man stabbed mother to death in home during dispute

STONY BROOK, N.Y. (AP) - A Long Island man accused of stabbing his mother to death in their home has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder.

Newsday reports a lawyer representing 26-year-old Christopher Storm Harrison entered the plea Tuesday during his client’s arraignment at Stony Brook Medical Center. Suffolk County prosecutors say Harrison had previously admitted to killing his mother during a domestic dispute last Friday.

Harrison was arrested after police found the body of 53-year-old Joyce Skarka in a bathtub. Police say Skarka was attacked in the dining room area of her Center Moriches (moh-RIH’-chihs) home before she was dragged to the tub. Investigators say they found towels soaked with gasoline or kerosene in the tub.

Harrison’s attorney, Robert Del Col, says his client is a “very sick individual who needs to be treated.”

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Information from: Newsday, http://www.newsday.com